Tufting attachment for sewing machines



Jan. 939- o. R. STRAIN ET AL 2, 3 81 TUFTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWINGMACHINES Filed Oct. 20, 1937 3 Sheet ,-Sheet l [nvcntons /0 Oscar 5.527m WE 577QF/f6 Attorneys Jan. 10, 1939. o. R. STRAIN ET AL TUFTINGATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 20, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 2Inventory 0.50am ff. f/a/k W15:

By QM J arms Atiorneys TUFTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct.20, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor; Oscarfl. J f/"a/fi :51 m W15.joar/ns 7r" 4/8 48 B w a .4 iiorneys Patented Jan. 10, 1939 UNITEDSTATES TUFTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINE Oscar Ray Strain andWilliam Hansel Sparks,

Dalton, ,Ga., assignors to Polly Prentiss, Inc.,

Sumter, S. (3., a corporation of South Carolina Application October 20,1937, Serial No. 170,099

6 Claims. (Cl. 112-79) This invention relates to a tufting attachmentfor sewing machines, the general object of the invention being toprovide means for forming loops in the stitches made by the, sewingmachine and for cutting the loops to form tufts, the cutting and loopingmeans forming a unit which can be easily and .quickly attached to aportion of the bottom part of the base of the sewing machine,

vent slacking of the thread which might result in damage to the clothand the thread.

This invention also consists in certain other features of constructionand in the combination and arrangement of the several parts to behereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand specifically pointed out in the appended claims. I

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to theacompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like orcorresponding 0 parts throughout the several views, and in which:---

Figure 1 is an elevation-of the head portion of a sewing machine withthe invention applied thereto, parts .being broken away and parts insection.

Figure 2 is a view looking toward the forward end of thelower portion ofFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the unit removed from the machine. Figure4 is a view of the knife carrier.

Figure 4a is a detail sectional view showing how the knife is held tothe lever. I

Figure 5 is a sidevie'w, with parts broken away, looking toward theedges of the looper hook and theknife. Figure 6 is an edge view of theknife operating arm. v I

Figure 7 is a view of a stationary knife and its supporting member. gFigure 8 is a top plan view of Figure '7.

Figure 9 is a front view looking into the end of the head of the machineand showing the thread tensioning means associated with the needle bar.Figure 10 is atop plan view of such tensio'ning means.

In these drawings the letter A indicates the head of the sewing machine,rising from the base a and thishead rotatably supports the shaft 3having the pulley b at one end which receives the belt or other drivemeans and said shaft has at its front end the rotary member C whichreciprocates the needle bar D through means of the links a. Asubstantially centrally arranged shaft E is journaled under the base aand is actuated in any suitable manner from the main shaft B, as shownin Figure land the front end of said shaft is journaled in a dependingbearing member e supported from the base a.

In carrying out our invention we provide a bearing member I which isconnected by the screws 2 to the lower end of the bearing member e andwe also provide a yoke-shaped bearing member 3 which is connected by thescrews 4 with the parts 5 carried by the base a. These two bearing partsI and 3 rotata'bly support a shaft 6 which has 20 a sectional forkedmember I clamped thereto by the bolts 8 and the prongs of this memberenchannel IS in one edge for receiving a part of the arm I2. Thus theblock can be adjusted longitudinally on the arm. The shank of a looperhook I1 is fastened to the front face of 5 the block by a screw l8 andthe pins I 9, said hook having a substantially straight part IIterminating in a beak II". A lever 20 is pivoted to a sidepart of themember 3 by a bolt 2i which is carried by the member 3 and passesthrough a 40 hole 22 in the lever so that the lever can rock on the boltbut a coiled spring 23 onthe bolt holds the lever under friction, thetension of the spring being adjusted by the nuts 24 on the outer end ofthe bolt. The outer end of the lever is forked as shown at 25 andreceives a roller 26 on a pin 21 carried by an arm 28 attached at oneend to the front end of the shaft 6 by the nut 29. Thus the lever willbe rocked by' rocking movement of the arm 28 when the arm is oscillatedby the 5 shaft 6. g

Theinner end of the lever 20 at its rear face is formed with a recess 30to receive a portion' of the knife 3| whichis held in the recess by theclamp block 32 of substantially channel shape 55 and which Is connectedwith the inner end of the lever 30 by the screw 33. The flanges or endsof said clamping block 32 overlap reduced portions of said inner end ofthe lever 20, as shown in Figures "4 and 4a and the side edges of theknife are beveled to engage undercut walls 30' and 32' of the recess 30and the channel member 32 respectively as shown in Figure 4a. The partsare so arranged that the knife is supported in a slightly inclinedposition, as shown in Figure 5 with its beveled upper end engaging thelooper hook, with the rest of the knife sloping downwardly away from thehook. The beveled upper end of the knife is yieldingly held against thehook by the spring 23 on the bolt 2| forcing the lever 20 rearwardly andthis holds the upper end of the knife yieldingly against the hook I! asshown in Figure 5. As will be seen the upper end of the knife not onlyis beveled to provide a cutting edge but it slopes from one side edge tothe other, the highest edge being remote from the beak of the hook sothat the knife will only cut the loops of thread previously placed onthe hook and will not cut the loops just placed on the hook.

The parts are so arranged that as the needle starts its upward motion aportion of the thread or yarn will form a loop through which the hookwill pass between the thread and needle so that as the needle passesupward this loop is held and as the hook moves back a portion of theknife engages a portion of the loop between itself and the rear portionof the straight part ll of the hook which is beveled on its edge toprovide a cutting edge for cooperating with the cutting edge of theknife in cutting'the thread.

Thus it will be seen that one shaft 6 operated from the shaft E of thesewing machine operates both the hook for forming the loops and theknife for cutting the loops. The book can be adjusted by adjusting thecollar Ill on the shaft 6 through means of the set screw H and byadjusting the block I5 on the arm l2 by means of the screw l4. Also theknife can be adjusted vertically by the clamping member 32 and its screw33. As before stated the knife has its upper end yieldingly held incontact with the hook by means of the spring 23, the tension of whichcan be adjusted by the nut 24.

Figures 7 and 8 show a stationary knife 3| adjustably mounted in aholder 34 which is formed with a thickened part 35 which bears against aspring washer 38.

portion of the bracket or supporting member 3' and this thickenedportion is formed with a threaded stud 36 which passes through a hole inthe member 3' and receives the nut 31 and a The holder is formed with apassage 39 which extends longitudinally through the outer portion of theholder and opens out into a channel 40 in the inner portion of theholder and the elongated stationary knife 3| passes through this passageand the channel. The knife is held in adjusted position by the screw 4|which is provided with a lock nut 42 and a similar screw 43 passesthrough a threaded-hole in the inner end of the holder and has a locknut 44 therein for holding the screw in adjusted position. The inner endof the screw will bear against the knife to press the beveled upper endagainst the hook and by adjusting the screw 43 the tension of the knifeagainst the hook can be regulated. The holder is arranged on aninclination with respect to the bight of the member 3 and of courseholds the knife at the same inclination and the knife should be adjustedso that the left hand portion of its beveled upper edge will cut thepreviously formed loop on the part H of the hook when the hook movesaway from the needle and brings this loop against the beveled edge ofthe knife. The upper ends of the limbs of the member 3 are formed withthe countersunk holes 3" to receive the bolts which fasten the member 3'to an under part of the base of the sewing machine. It will of course beunderstood that the knife 3| is made flexible enough so that it can beforced away from the holder by the screw 43 as shown in Figure 8. Itwill, of course, be understood that when the stationary knife is to beused the lever 20 with the knife 3|, the arm 28 and the knife 3| withthe screw or bolt 2| and the parts carried thereby are removed and theholder 34 substituted therefor and held in place by the stud 36 and thenut 31. However, the supporting member 3' is formed with the centrallyarranged opening 45 therein which forms a bearing for the front end ofthe shaft 6 which operates the hook as in the first form of theinvention.

The invention also contemplates means for preventing slack in the threador yarn on the up-stroke of the needle bar and such means includes a rod46 having an eye 41 at its outer end through which the thread or yarnpasses and said rod passes through a clamp 48 attached to anintermediate part of a lever 49 which is pivoted to a stationary part ofthe front end of the head of the machine as shown at 50 and the otherend of the lever is connected to a link 5| as shown at 52 and this link5| is pivotally connected to a link 53 which is pivoted to the same endof the member C as that to which the link 0 is pivoted as shown inFigure 9. A screw 48 causes the clamp 48 to grip the rod 46, after thesame has been adjusted.

These parts are so arranged that on the upward movement of the needlebar B the rod moves upwardly so as to apply tension to the yarn and thiswill prevent slack from occurring in the yarn or thread at the needle,on the upward movement of the needle which might injure the cloth whichis being tufted.

The eye of the rod 46 moves upwardly slightly in advance of the upwardmovement of the needle so as to keep the yarn or thread at the needletaut and prevent looping of the thread where it passes upwardly from theeye of the needle on that side opposite the side where the loops areformed by the hook.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have provided comparativelysimple means for forming loops in the thread or yarn as the same ispassed through the cloth by the needle, with means for cutting the loopsand all the parts are arranged in a compact manner and are carried bythe members and 3 which are held to the bottom of the base of the sewingmachine by the bolts and screws so that the unit can be readily put inplace and removed and the adjustments can be easily and quickly made tocause the correct operation of the parts. Also, when desired, themovable knife and the means for moving the I same can be removed and thestationary knife substituted therefor and when this is done the onlymovable portions are the hook for form ing the loops and the means foractuating the same.

The drawings show the shaft E as being rocked from the main shaft of thesewing machine but if desired this shaft can be rotated as the sccentric9 can be so formed and arranged that its rotary movement will impart thecorrect rocking movement of the shaft 6.

Of course the sewing machine is provided with the usual work feedingmeans for advancing the cloth F which carries the tufts and the cloth isheld in place by the usual presser foot P, as

shown in Figure 2.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages andnovel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the constriction andin the combination and arrangement of the several parts provided thatsuch changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:-

1. A tufting attachment for the parts of a sewing machine comprising areciprocatory needle to carry the yarn through the fabric and produceloops and work feed means, said attachment comprising a rock shaftseparate from the work feed means of the sewing machine, a carriermounted upon the rock shaft to turn therewith, a looper verticallyadjustably mounted upon the carrier, a cutter having a pivotal mountingseparate from the looper and rock shaft and having a sliding rubbingengagement with the looper for producing a shearing action, and meansoperated by the rock shaft to swing the cutter upon its pivot.

2. A tufting attachment for the parts of a sewing machine comprising areciprocatory needle to carry the yarn through the fabric and produceloops and work feed means, said attachment comprising a rock shaftseparate from the work feed means, a collar circumferentia'liyadjustable upon the rock shaft, a looper for coaction with the needle,vertically adjustable means to mount the looper upon the collar, acutter pivotally mounted separately from the 40 looper and havingrubbing engagement therewith to produce a shearing action, and meansoperated by the rock shaft to move the cutter.

3. A tufting attachment for the parts, of a sawing machine comprising, areciprocatory needie to carry the yarn through the fabric and clamp thesupporting member to the rock shaft so that they turn together, a looperfor coaction with the needle, means for vertically adjustably mountingthe looper upon the supporting member, a cutter pivotally supportedseparately from the looper and having rubbing engagement with the looperto produce a shearing action, and means operated by the rock shaft tomove the cutter.

4. A tufting attachment for the parts of a sewing machine comprising areciprocatory needle and work feed mechanism, said attachment comprisinga rock shaft separate from the work feed mechanism, an upstanding looperfor coaction with the needle, and mounted upon the rock shaft to movetherewith, a generally horizontal member pivotally mounted separatelyfrom the looper and extending transversely across the looper and havinga cutting part having sliding rubbing engagement with the looper toproduce a shearing action, and means operated by the rock shaft to movethe generally horizontal member.

5. A tufting attachment for a sewing machine comprising a reciprocatoryneedle and work feed means, said attachment comprising a rock shaft, anupstanding looper mounted upon the rock shaft for movement toward andfrom the needle, 9. generally horizontal member pivotally mountedseparate from the looper and extending transversely of the looperbetween the upper end of the looper and the rock shaft and having acutting part having rubbing engagement with the looper for producing ashearing action, and means operated by the rock shaft to move themember.

6. A tufting attachment for a sewing machine comprising a reciprocatoryneedle and work feed means, said attachment comprising a rock shaftarranged below the work feed means, a looper mounted upon the rock shaftto move therewith V and to be shifted thereby toward and from theneedle, 9. generally horizontal lever pivotally mounted between its endsseparately from the looper, a cutter mounted upon one end of the leverand having rubbing engagement with the looper to produce a shearingaction and separately mounted from the looper, and an arm mounted'uponthe rock shaft to turn therewith and connected with the outer end of thelever.

OSCAR RAY STRAIN. WILLIAM HANSEL SPARKS.

